Topic 1

The Basic Notions of ELT Methodology

1. Different perspectives of teaching a foreign language. Aims of teaching a foreign language (according
to the traditional Soviet approach, modern European approach, modern Russian approach)
2. A task, an assignment, and exercise. The difference between them. (Give numerous examples of
each.)
3. Major skills. Basic (language) and functional skills. (Provide examples.) Competence, general and
specific competences. Universal learning activities, their types.
4. A method and an approach: their characteristic features.
a) Describe various approaches to the process of teaching and of learning (a student should prepare a
Powerpoint presentation about the main principles, drawbacks and merits of any approach to TEFL from
the list below, length of answer 5-7 minutes).

Approaches to be discussed:
· The behaviorist approach
· The natural approach.
· The cognitive approach.
· The communicative approach.
· The lexical approach.
· The system-activity approach (системно-деятельностный подход).
· The competency-based approach.

1.
According to the Soviet Reproach the goals of teaching are:
• Practical
• Educational goals:
 Образовательная
 Развивающая
 Воспитательная

The practical goal is teaching the learners to speak, to read, to write and to understand spoken
language by ear.

Образовательная goal is broadening the learners knowledge and vision of the world. (hi\hello)
Развивающая goal is developing the learners intellect (memory, thinking, attention, imagination and so
on)
Воспитательная goal presupposes education of spirit and character formation.

1. So, in other words, language learning means:

• Acquisition (приобретение) of language cOmpetencies
They are abilities to use language material automatically, practically, without thinking (EX. The skill of
using the Present Perfect tense, all vocabulary on the topic “weather”)

• Acquisition of functional competencies

They are abilities to understand and transmit meaningful messages in all kinds of communicative acts
like: a request, a suggestion, advice and so on.
From another point of view (modern European approach) the main purpose of education is developing
certain competencies.

There are 2 types of them (competencies):

1. General competence (those are universal for all school subjects)
 Declarative knowledge: knowledge of the world, sociocultural knowledge about the language-
speaking country
 Practical skills (social, living, professional, leisure), intellectual skills
 Existential competence: values, attitudes, beliefs,
 Ability to learn

2. Communicative language skills (=communicative competence, иноязычная коммуникативная

компетенция ИКК) (the purpose of studying a foreign language)

 Linguistic competence. It is knowledge and skills of using grammar, vocabulary, intonation patterns,
spelling and so on.
 Social- linguistic. The ability to choose among linguistic forms and change them, according to the
communicative situation.
 Functional competence. The same as functional skills. It is use of spoken and written texts in
communication for particular communicative purposes.
 Socio-cultural competence. It is using knowledge of your own culture and that of the foreign language
country.
 Strategic (discourse) competence. Using logic, argumentation, stylistic devices, gestures, smiles and so
on.
 CompensAtOry competence is an ability to communicate even if you don’t know the necessary
vocabulary, grammar and so on.
 Social competence (the same as воспитательная цель)
 Learning competence (the same as развивающая цель)

According to the current Federal Educational Standard language learning presupposes reaching the
following results:
1. Личностные- involve the values beliefs an attitudes to the learner to themselves people around
them, and the educational process itself.
2. Метапредметные- universal learning activities (универсальные учебные действия) acquired by the
learners.
3. Предметные- basic and functional skills acquired by the learners in the process of education.

Universal Learning Activities

1. Личностные- обеспечивают целостно-смысловую ориентацию учащихся, а также ориентацию в
социальных ролях и межличностных отношениях.
2. Регулятивные- обеспечивают организацию учащимися своей учебной деятельности
(целеполагание, планирование, прогнозирование, контроль и коррекция, оценка).
3. Познавательные- обще учебные логические действия, а также действия постановки и решения
проблем (анализ, синтез, сравнение, классификация, доказательство)
4. Коммуникативные- способность и умение осуществлять продуктивные взаимодействие и
сотрудничество со сверстниками и взрослыми.
In a broader sense УУД is an ability to learn.

2.
(ОПРЕДЕЛЕНИЯ ПОНЯТИЙ В ТЕТРАДИ)

An exercise usually has a restrictive focus on a single language element, and has a linguistic outcome.
A language exercise is guided and controlled by the teacher.
A task is a communicative act that does not usually have a restrictive focus on a single grammatical
structure and has a non-linguistic outcome.
An assignment means someone is giving you an activity or task to complete.
  For example, teacher says: Our test is on Friday, so your assignment tonight is to study
everything we learned this past month.
Teachers give students assignments every day. But students need to know how to take a big assignment
and separate it into smaller tasks.
 Students might understand this example: My assignment is to read the whole book. But luckily, I
only need to read 10 pages a day.
 The teacher's assignment might look like this: write down words that relate to planning your
summer vacation and then talk about your dream vacation.

3.
In 4 Major ways =skills (виды речевой деятельности):
• Reading
• Listening
• Writing
• Speaking + sometimes translation and mediation(язык посредничества)
The basic skills are only a means to an end.
The real purpose of education is to teach learners to communicate in a foreign language. So basic skills
are just an instrument to achieve this purpose. One and the same Functional skill can be based on
different Basic skills (ex. The functional skill of expressing a polite request may be based on the basic skill
of using the modal verb will or can\could may\might.
One and the same Basic skill can be used for different functional skill (ex. Modal verb can (basic skill) can
express:
1. Ability \capability
2. Perm\prohib\request
3. Possibility due to circumstances
4. Uncertainty\doubt
5. Improbability

1. Exposure to a new culture, through observation and participation. Learners are exposed to a new
culture alongside with learning grammar, vocabulary and intonation patterns.
2. Perfection of cross-disciplinary academic skills. Many functional skills are cross-disciplinary. For
example: the skill of giving definitions, making a summary, paraphrasing, guessing the meaning of an
unfamiliar word and so on. So studying a foreign language may help learners with other school subjects.
3. Helping the learner to live among people and to fit into the surrounding world. We teach learners to
make themselves understood as a personality to respect other people’s views, to communicate in pares
and small groups and so on.

4.
An approach vs method
A principle is a basic belief that governs teaching. The example, the principle of communication or direct
demonstration and so on.
Strategy is a specific device of organising this or that activity in class. It describes the instruction of the
task. For example, imitation or repetition.
Both an approach and a method are theories based upon certain principles. A method is a theory of
teaching a foreign language that comes from a definite approach. It has an implementation of a set of
principles.
Methods are specific that approaches but less specific that strategies. (Дерево- метод- верхушка
дерева со стволом, подход- корни дерева, принцип- один из корней, техника- одна из веток).
Approaches:
1. Conscious (сознательный)- language learning is a rule-governed acquisition of basic skills
2. Cognitive (сознательный)- language learning is a rule-governed acquisition of both basic and
functional skills
3. Behaviourist- language learning accurses by repeated exposure to a set of structured stimuli.
4. Communicative- presupposes communication from the very beginning. Mistakes do not matter if they
do not prevent others from understanding you.
5. Natural (Естественный)- learning a foreign language as a replica of learning the mother tongue
6. Problem-based- learning is a solution of sequenced problems.
7. Reflective- language acquisition is a process of reflecting how learning accurse
8. Competency-based- involves developing concrete skills rather than abstract learning.
9. Системно-деятельностный- aims at developing universal learning activities.
Some approaches are compatible with teaching methods. For example, the audio-lingual method
originates from the behaviourists approach and presupposes learning some language patterns by
listening to them and repeating. Grammar-translation method (comes from the conscious approach).
Language learning occurs by translating from the native language into the foreign one and vice-versa.
The principles of teaching foreign languages

There are 2 groups of principles:

1. General principles of language teaching (обще-дидактические) are the principles that can be relied
on while teaching any school subject
a) Cognitive= сознательности
b) Communication= коммуникативности
c) Interaction= интерактивности
d) Active learner participation= активности
e) Graded difficulties and sequencing = доступности и последовательности
f) Systematization= системности
g) Academic validity= научности
h) Direct demonstration= наглядности

2. Specific principles - are those principles that are relied on when teaching a foreign language
a) Interrelations of the four major skills= взаимосвязь видов Речевой Деятельности
b) Functional approach to presentation and practice= функциональность объяснения и тренировки
c) Apt to use of the other tongue= обоснованное применение родного языка как средства обучения
иностранному